The Wizard of Oz (1933)
The Wizard of Oz is an animated cartoon created in 1933 as is the very first Oz cartoon adaptation. Canadian animation pioneer Ted Eshbaugh created the eight-minute film from a script by Frank Joslyn Baum. It was one of the first works of animation to be made in color and to have a complete soundtrack. However the film ran into a legal conflict with the Technicolor Corporation which prevented its distribution. Despite not being widely released, amous MGM film that followed in 1939 borrowed several elements: the switch from black and white to Technicolor and the carriage procession through the Emerald City have precedents in Eshbaugh's cartoon. The film's music was composed by Carl Stalling who worked for both Disney and Warner Bros. Plot On a dreary Kansas day, Dorothy sits on her porch as Toto comes up with a stick so that he might play catch with her. Suddenly the tornado comes and they run into the farmhouse which gets picked up. They fall out of the house and land onto the Scarecrow who they go along with. Dorothy decides to play catch with Toto and so the Scarecrow tries throwing the stick, but they hear a clank noise. Upon inspecting, they find the rusted Tin Man. The Scarecrow provides oil and brushes the Tin Man off as they head off to the Emerald City which is shown to contain many animals in love such as Swans, Birds, and Bees. They walk to the gate as trumpeters play and Dorothy goes into a carriage to be in a parade. They are invited to the throne room as four golden knights sing the tune "Hail to the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz will lead the way." The Wizard shows them various magic tricks such as creating magic hats with with dancing dolls in them. Then he creates a chicken who lays eggs when hatched show mini animal-hyrids. One of the eggs however doesn't hatch and is defective as it grows huge. As the Wizard attempts to remedy this, Toto steals his wand he is chased by Dorothy and the Wizard. The Tin Man tries to break the egg with his axe but it breaks, so the Scarecrow picks up weapons on the wall but those break as well. The egg gets even bigger and after being chased, Toto runs up to Tin Man who picks up the wand which breaks the egg to reveal a small chick. The chick gets craddled by its mother as the characters sing "rock a bye-baby" as the cartoon ends. Trivia *Various characters are left out such as the Cowardly Lion and the Witches *The animal love scene briefly shown in the Emerald City has a butterfly covering up two birds as a flower retracts on two bees before revealing they had concieved many kids in only a few seconds. This is a clear reference to "the birds and the bees". *The animals that the Wizard uses are similar to the Nine Tiny Piglets *Also in the 1930s, animator Kenneth L. McLellan tried to create a version of the second Oz book. He gained the support of Baum's widow Maud Gage Baum, but never found financing for his The Land of Oz. *1933 was also the year that NBC started their Oz radio show. References * David L. Greene and Dick Martin. The Oz Scrapbook. New York, Random House, 1977. * Jay Scarfone and William Stillman. The Wizardry of Oz: The Artistry and Magic of the 1939 M-G-M Classic. Milwaukee, WI, Hal Leonard Corp., 2004. Category:Oz Movies Category:Cartoons